Megyn Kelly Says Roger Ailes Sexually Harassed Her For Six Months, Threatened To Fire Her For Refusing ‘Sexual Favors’

Megyn Kelly added herself to the list of women Roger Ailes allegedly sexually harassed. The 45-year-old host of The Kelly File said in her new book of memoirs that’s due to be released at the end of this year, that the 76-year-old now-resigned Fox News CEO made unwanted sexual advances towards her for several months in 2005 when she was hired as a legal correspondent in Washington. According to Megyn Kelly, Roger Ailes would sexually harass her for hours behind closed doors at his New York office, and even threatened to fire her for refusing sexual favors in exchange for promotions.

Several other women came out against Roger Ailes, saying that he also sexually harassed them, following a similar claim made by former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson in July 2016. But, Carlson, 50, wasn’t the first woman to say that Ailes sexually harassed her. Unfortunately, a television producer also accused Roger Ailes of sexual harassment in a 2014 book by author Gabriel Sherman, but that accusation fell on deaf ears. Sherman’s biography about the Fox News Channel president says that Ailes told the TV producer he would give her a raise if she slept with him.

That particular incident allegedly took place sometime in the 1980s, surfacing decades later, with Fox News denying the sexual harassment allegation, saying that the book by Sherman — an American author, and contributing editor for the New York magazine — wasn’t “authentic” enough. In fact, the Huffington Post reported on the Ailes’ biography, titled The Loudest Voice in the Room, in January, 2014, referencing the claim, calling it “startling,” even though other Fox News employees had said that Ailes had a “volatile temper,” as well as “domineering behavior.” The report goes on to say that the TV producer, Randi Harrison, was trying to negotiate her salary with Roger Ailes, which prompted the sexual harassment incident.

“He offered her an additional $100 each week ‘if you agree to have sex with me whenever I want.'”

Carlson actually went as far as filing a lawsuit against Ailes, saying that she was fired by the Fox News founder for refusing his sexual advances. Megyn Kelly claims that her Fox News contract was also threatened by Roger Ailes after she pushed him away for repeatedly trying to grab her and kiss her on the lips. Kelly’s harassment ended six months after it started in the summer of 2005, and, even though she rejected “every single one” of his physical advances, Ailes ultimately ended up promoting her, rather than firing her. Radar Online exclusively reports that Megyn Kelly outlines the sexual harassment in her HarperCollins memoir, titled Settle for More, and that it only ended because she finally reported him to a supervisor.

Radar Online says it got its hands on Megyn Kelly’s new book – these details about Ailes forcing himself on Kelly.. https://t.co/QFKS3EqtZE pic.twitter.com/InpMKBgMcf

— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) November 3, 2016

Megyn Kelly went on to write that after Gretchen Carlson came out against Roger Ailes on July 6, 2016, followed by six other women three days later, she decided that she needed to speak up, and made a phone call to the co-chairman of 21st Century Fox, the mass media corporation behind the Fox Entertainment Group. Kelly says that crossing Ailes was a “major risk,” but she feared that Ailes was still “doing it to someone.” Kelly’s phone call prompted the 21st Century Fox company to finally investigate Ailes, causing him to resign from Fox News on July 21, but only after receiving a huge settlement from Fox in return for him leaving quietly.

The Kelly File, Megyn Kelly’s weekday evening Fox News program, was rated the second-highest cable news TV show last year, but Kelly’s contract with Fox is due to expire in July 2017. Rumors are swirling that Kelly might actually be looking elsewhere, despite a $5 million pay raise from Fox News. The Inquisitr recently reported that Megyn Kelly is allegedly thinking about jumping to CNN to directly compete against Bill O’Reilly on The O’Reilly Factor at 8 p.m. on the Fox News Channel. But O’Reilly’s contract also ends next year, according to the Huffington Post, and upping Megyn Kelly’s salary to over $20 million would bring her up to O’Reilly’s current level of salary. Current Fox News executive chairman Rupert Murdoch says that he hopes that kind of a pay raise will prompt Megyn Kelly to stay, but it’s entirely “up to Kelly.”

Megyn Kelly has reportedly been thinking about leaving the Fox News Channel since April, telling Variety in an interview that she doesn’t know what’s going to happen after her contract expires, but that there might be “greener pastures elsewhere.”

[Featured Image by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]